The spiritual rewards and intellectual challenges of Eastern philosophy are revealed in this visually stunning book, illustrated by Joe Lee and with 19th-century engravings. Eastern philosophy is not only an intellectual pursuit, but one that involves one’s entire being. Much of it is so deeply entwined with the non-intellectual art of meditation, that the two are impossible to separate. In this survey of the major philosophies of India, China, Tibet and Japan, Jim Powell draws upon his (...) knowledge of Sanskrit and Chinese, as well as decades of meditation. Whether tackling Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu, Dogen, the Dalai Lama or Patanjal–Powell’s insights are deeply illuminating. All the major philosophies of India, China, Tibet and Japan are explained and everyone, from beginner to expert, will find Eastern Philosophy For Beginners an insightful overview. (shrink)

Eastern Philosophy: The Basics is an essential introduction to major Indian and Chinese philosophies, both past and present. Exploring familiar metaphysical and ethical questions from the perspectives of different Eastern philosophies, including Confucianism, Daoism, and strands of Buddhism and Hinduism, this book covers key figures, issues, methods and concepts. Questions discussed include: What is the ‘self’? Is human nature inherently good or bad? How is the mind related to the world? How can you live an authentic life? (...) What is the fundamental nature of reality? Throughout the book the relationships between Eastern Philosophy, Western Philosophy and the questions reflective people ask within the contemporary world are brought to the fore. With timelines highlighting key figures and their contributions, a list of useful websites and further reading suggestions for each topic, this engaging overview of fundamental ideas in Eastern Philosophy is valuable reading for all students of philosophy and religion, especially those seeking to understand Eastern perspectives. (shrink)

Through key readings from primary and secondary sources this book communicates at first hand the principal features of a remarkable range of Eastern thought - from Buddhism, Confucianism, and Hinduism to Islam, Shinto, and Zoroastrianism. Passages from key texts guide the reader through over ninety major terms, from abhidharma to Zen. Material is drawn not only from such cornerstone texts as the Bhagavad-gita and the Lao-tzu, but also from modern writings on Eastern philosophy and religion.

_Understanding Eastern Philosophy_ provides an accessible critical introduction to how some of the key philosophies of the East compare with those in the West. Starting from a discussion of the problems of distinguishing between religions and philosophies, Ray Billington presents a clear picture of the key tenets behind Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism and Confucianism. Moving on to compare the key themes of religious philosophy that cut across East and West, such as a belief in God, the soul, moral (...) decision-making, nature and authority, _Understanding Eastern Philosophy_ presents a fascinating and controversial picture of the contribution theistic religions have to make. With its belief in a personal God bestowing a particular version of 'truth', Ray Billington concludes that the universal mysticism characteristic of Eastern thought provides a more realistic and rewarding path than is commonly supposed in the West. _Understanding Eastern Philosophy_ assumes no prior knowledge of religion or philosophy. (shrink)

This paper focuses on the views and formulations of eastern philosophy the negate humanism and personalism.

_Key Concepts in Eastern Philosophy_ provides an extensive glossary of the main terms and concepts used in Eastern philosophy. The book includes definitions of philosophical ideas linked to the national traditions of: * Persia * India * Islamic world * China * Japan * Tibet including concepts from: * Zoroastrianism * Hinduism * Sufism * Islam * Confucianism * Shintoism * Taoism * Buddhism Each entry includes a guide for further reading and critical analysis, and is cross-referenced (...) with associated concepts and is in easy-to-use A-Z format. (shrink)

This book selectively examines a range of ideas and arguments drawn from the philosophical traditions of South and East Asia, focusing on those that are especially relevant to the philosophy of religion. The book introduces key debates about the self and the nature of reality that unite the otherwise highly diverse philosophies of Indian and Chinese Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. The emphasis of the book is analytical rather than historical. Key issues are explained in a clear, precise, accessible manner, (...) and with a view to their relevance to contemporary philosophical debates. (shrink)

This chapter provides readers with an understanding of some basic principles of selected Eastern traditions and their relation to philosophy of education. The attempt to characterize such diverse traditions and understandings of education raises numerous hermeneutical issues which can only be addressed through a pedagogical reduction as a vehicle for understanding. In this case, we have employed Plato’s cave allegory as that methodological and pedagogical vehicle. We explore aspects of the ontology, epistemology, and ethics of Buddhist, Hindu, Daoist, (...) and Confucian traditions, interpreting elements from Plato’s allegory in order to throw light onto the educational ideas and implications of those Eastern traditions. The chapter begins with an account of Plato’s cave and its general themes that are relevant to interpreting educational theories. We then move into an examination of the particular ideas and practices that reveal pedagogical concerns within the four traditions, attempting to show how these ideas can be interpreted with Plato’s cave. We conclude the chapter by pointing to some themes and commonalities that might merit the term ‘Eastern philosophy of education’. We ask whether the cave is suggestive of a state of illusion or ignorance and whether what is at stake is both epistemological and ontological. We suggest that the analytical distinction between knowing and being becomes questionable, even untenable, as the ethical and philosophical concerns are interwoven by Eastern traditions in rich and complex ways. (shrink)

A clear and engaging presentation of history's most influential Eastern thinkers Eastern Philosophy provides a detailed but accessible analysis of the work of nearly sixty thinkers from all of the major Eastern philosophical traditions, from the earliest times to the present day. Covering systems, schools, and individuals, Eastern Philosophy presents founder figures such as Zoroaster and Mohammed as well as modern thinkers such as Nishida Kitaro, perhaps the preeminent figure within modern Japanese philosophy. (...) From Buddhism to Islam, Confucius to Gandhi, the systems of Indian philosophy to the Kyoto School, concepts and individuals are introduced in a lively and lucid narrative. Eastern Philosophy is a thought-provoking and stimulating exploration of fundamental ideas and an array of personalities that is sure to encourage further investigation. A comprehensive glossary, Web resources, and a bibliography further enhance the volume. (shrink)

This paper examines what, if anything, "Eastern philosophy" can teach us about business ethics. The whole idea of "Eastern ethics" or so-called "Asian values" is suspect on a number of scores. The paper argues that It is better to refer to specific ideas of particular thinkers influential within one country or tradition. The paper concentrates on the philosophy of two such thinkers – Watsuji Tetsuro of Japan and Confucius. When this more "micro" approach is adopted, we (...) can learn some important lessons with respect to the meaning of trust, the longterm nature of relations, and ethics that extend far beyond the limited idea of rights. The paper considers these lessons in the business context. (shrink)

"De la dmocratie en Amrique" (published in two volumes, the first in 1835 and the second in 1840) is a classic French text by Alexis de Tocqueville on the ...

Being Two Addresses Delivered In The University Of Toronto At The Philosophical Conference, 1922.

The Best Guide to Eastern Philosophy & Religion provides a thorough discussion of the most widely practices belief systems of the East. Author Diane Morgan understands how to direct the materialistic, linear way of Western thinking toward a comprehension of the cyclical, metaphysical essence of Eastern philosophy. With an emphasis on the tenets and customs that Wester seekers find most compelling, this text is accessible to the novice yet sophisticated enough for the experienced reader. Inside, you'll (...) find complete coverage of Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, as well as the less-widely practiced faiths of Shintoism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Zoroastrainism. Learn the fundamentals of the tantric path to liberation and the relationship between sex and seeking. Discover the true meaning of Feng Shui, the philosophical underpinnings of Hatha Yoga and Taoist connection to the martial art of Tai chi chuan. And if you've ever wondered: what is the sound of one hand clapping?. this book will get you started on finding that answer. The Eastern traditions, with their emphasis on harmony and oneness, have much to offer us in our hectic, demanding lives. For a comprehensive, entertaining exploration of the beliefs of Asia, The Best Guide to Eastern Philosophy & Religion is the essential manual for the seeker in all of us. (shrink)

This project aims to examine whether music has an emotional nature. I use the ancient Chinese text Music Has No Grief or Joy to construct three arguments for the illusion view, according to which music has no emotional nature and the emotional appearances of music are illusory. These arguments highlight representational inconstancy, expressive incapability, and evocative underdetermination as three ways to problematize the idea that music has an emotional nature. I draw on the Confucian tradition to formulate three responses to (...) the illusion view from representational reliability, expressive sincerity, and evocative appropriateness. These responses are shown to be inadequate. To examine the illusion view in detail, I adopt a comparative approach to structure a dialogue between ancient Eastern philosophy and contemporary Western philosophy. Nine arguments are constructed from three prominent approaches in contemporary Western musical aesthetics on the evocation, expression, and representation of emotion. I argue that each of these arguments reads emotion into music. Nevertheless, three insights emerge from the comparative discussion. The autonomy of emotional enjoyment, the possibility of emotional communication, and the function of emotional language in musical experiences call for explanations. I argue that the illusion view are amenable to these insights. The illusion view allows us to claim full ownership of emotional responses, have emotional communication by recognizing intended emotional meanings in music, and appreciate the practical value of emotional language in music industry and education. I formulate a possible objection on the basis of Charles Swann’s musical experience in Marcel Proust’s novel, according to which music has emotional agency in the formation of an emotion. This objection can be met and Swann’s musical experience can be integrated into the illusion view. The illusion view turns out to be experientially richer than it might appear at first. This project liberates musical listening and philosophical thinking from beliefs entrenched in the emotional illusion of music. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to expose the function of the culture and thought of the Far East, expressed in Japanese Zen Buddhism and Chinese Chan (as well as, in general, in Chinese philosophy and culture), within the thought of Byung-Chul Han. This dimension of the Korean's work has not been sufficiently deepened in the analyses that are made of him. This error leads to mistakes such as stating that there is no emancipation proposal in Han or that (...) his work is limited to a pessimistic description of the world. Thus, the investigation that follows the bibliographic-documental research method is divided into three moments; the first exposes the foundations of the philosophy of Zen-chan Buddhism developed by Han; the second delineates the ontology of Hanian falsification and; the third, analyzes the theses on the East within Han's theoretical project. (shrink)

Explore a truly astonishing range of interests, philosophies, religions, and cultures -- from alchemy to angels, Buddhism to Hinduism, myth to magic. The distinguished authors bring a wealth of knowledge, visionary thinking, and accessible writing to each intriguing subject in these lavishly illustrated, large-format paperback books.

The oriental martial arts tend to be viewed as having deep, mysterious significance and secret, occult practices. An adept in a martial art is supposed to be not only an expert in combat but also a spiritual master, worthy of assuming a religious status for his students. Much of what is written under the name of "philosophy of the martial arts" emphasizes these characteristics, and makes claims about the results of martial arts training that may well perplex an outsider. (...) We propose to examine three of these claims in such a way that they become intelligible, and are put in terms compatible with the Western philosophical tradition. The task that we set ourselves, then, is not so much to assess the truth of these claims, as to determine and to explain what claims are being made, and what their justifications might be. We seek to show that, although some of the experiences that a person in the martial arts may have may be esoteric, the comprehension of claims made about these experiences need not be. We shall, thus, try to make a start at bringing what is called the philosophy of the martial arts out of a close connection with near mystic insight into a more public domain in which philosophical issues in the martial arts can be discussed in a way compatible with Western philosophy. (shrink)

This book describes in detail a culture and way of thinking which predates Western philosophy by several centuries. It is an ideal guide for the Western reader to the historical and philosophical basis of Eastern cultures.

The article is devoted to a comparative analysis of the role of the feminine principle in the cosmogonic ideas of the Slavic peoples and the philosophy of the Ancient East, in particular, India and China, to the establishment of common and distinctive features of female personification. The authors conclude that the ancient tribal culture, which was based on the logic of nature, the maintenance of the world in unity and the balance of opposites, was much more favorable to women (...) than monotheistic religions, which affirmed the sinful nature of women. Ideas about the origin and development of the universe occupy a central place in the mythological heritage, in the cosmic processes and powerful forces of nature, the unbreakable harmony of male and female principles can be traced, where male energy consists in the idea of fertilization, and female energy – in birth and creation. In every mythological system, there is a character of the Mother Goddess, who acts as a co-creator of the world and living beings, but with the establishment of the patriarchal system, the mythological paradigm undergoes changes, and the female principle is gradually recognized as secondary, or it was completely leveled in the processes of world creation. The archetype of the Great Mother reflects the functioning of human values and runs through the entire history of philosophy and culture. (shrink)

Presents the basic words, definitions, and doctrinal systems of four wisdom teachings of the East.

오늘을 살아가는 현대인들에게 있어 노동(일)은 생계를 유지하기 위한 수단의 측면을 넘어 사회, 정치적으로 자신의 지위와 역할을 나타내는 상징적인 기능을 수행한다. 이것은 현대인들에게 있어 노동의 의미가 사회적으로 중요한 역할과 기능을 한다는 것을 말해준다. 하지만 사회·정치적인 측면에서 강화된 노동의 형식과 내용은 자본을 중심으로 하는 신자유주의 시장경제체제 속에서 인간 존재를 노동을 위한 수단으로 전락하게 만드는 위험성을 노정하고 있다. 그러므로 우리는 인간의 삶과 노동에 대한 인식을 사회적이고 정치적인 측면에서 살펴볼 수 있는 개연성을 갖게 된다. 더욱이 인간의 삶을 위한 수단의 측면인 노동이 사회와 정치, 그리고 (...) 경제체제 속에서 역전된 현상, 즉 노동으로부터 소외된 현대인의 삶의 모습을 통해 우리는 노동의 의미를 되새겨 볼 필요가 있다. 이 점에서 본고는 현대사회에 만연하고 있는 노동으로부터 소외된 인간 삶의 문제를 해결하고 극복할 수 있는 방안을 동양의 철학사상을 통해 모색하여 본다. (shrink)

The philosophy of the Han Dynasty, especially that of the Eastern Han , is an unjustly neglected area of scholarship on early Chinese thought. In this article, I introduce the thought of a number of important Eastern Han philosophers, with particular attention to Wang Chong, Wang Fu, Xu Gan, and Wang Su. I also explain the major features of Eastern Han thought as distinct from that of the Warring States and Western Han periods, and consider their (...) origins in reaction to Western Han ideas and their further development in the Wei-Jin period. (shrink)

想要內心平靜安寧，就讀《莊子》吧！ 掌握「莊子」思想，面對外在好自在， 天生我材沒有用又怎樣？能做自己就是福。 ◎當你總是與人意見不合時 ★莊子教你處世之道──立場不同，無須與人爭論是非 人總是認為自己正確而對方錯誤，莊子要人們明白，我們不應該執著於爭論片面的是非，否則只會偏離自己的中心思想。 ◎當你在感情中常有衝突，快要撐不下去時 ★莊子給你愛的力量──愛對方的一切，包括愛對方的「缺點」 我們因一個人的優點而喜歡上他／她，但那些不那麼好、甚至是壞的部分，也是他／她的組成要素。一段完整的關係，不就是有好有壞，有快樂，有悲傷嗎？ ◎當你覺得自己學東西很慢，力不從心時 ★莊子告訴你人生真理──「智慧」比「知識」更重要 莊子認為，人生的智慧不是建立在知識累積的基礎上。事事算得很精、學得很勤的人，反而有可能迷失了方向，因小失大。 ◎當你遭遇困難，心情沮喪時 ★莊子帶你真誠面對自己──懂得快樂，更要懂得悲傷 喜怒哀樂，都是我們內在的真實感受。情感的發生，在莊子看來，也是再自然不過的事情，不需要刻意躲開。坦然面對情緒，才是最自在的辦法。 ◎當你被生活的忙碌壓到喘不過氣時 ★莊子引導你領略心靈的平靜──偶爾停下匆忙的腳步，傾聽心底的聲音 生活猶如走鋼索，從容自在的人會凝心自照，拋開環境的影響。莊子提醒我們，如果太專注於外在事物上，內心便會逐漸沉沒、枯寂。有時靜下心來，反而能走得更遠。 ▌工作、學業太多，煩惱、憂愁太雜，是現代人的文明通病。為了占有一席之地，人們往往勞心勞力、鞠躬盡瘁，到最後受苦的卻是自己。想要的東西太多，得到的卻很少，反而什麼都滿足不了。 ▌於是莊子說，「善待自己」最重要。歡迎來到莊子的逍遙講堂，帶你體悟「享受人生」的豁達精神！ ※本書特色※ ★精心挑選《莊子》百句，體會逍遙精神，貼近時下讀者關心話題★ 本書擇取《莊子》中深富智慧、極具啟示的段落百句，以貼近現實的視角與深入淺出的文字，闡述莊子精隨。讓讀者在日常中活用經典智慧，輕鬆進入莊子的逍遙世界。 ★兩千兩百年經典歷久不衰，知名哲學家、文學家一致推崇★ 《莊子》是道家思想最具代表性的著作，載有大量神話傳說與寓言。其中，「井底之蛙」、「莊周夢蝶」、「鼓盆而歌」、「越俎代庖」等典故皆為世人熟知。西方諸多哲人、文學家如尼采、海德格、羅蘭巴特、王爾德、卡夫卡 等名家，都深受《莊子》啟發。 作者簡介 | 陳引馳 復旦大學中文系教授，現為系主任。 復旦中國古代文學研究中心教授，復旦文史研究院雙聘研究員。 道家、佛教與中國古典文學專家。著有《無為與逍遙：莊子六章》《莊子精讀》《佛教文學》《文學傳統與中古道家佛教》等多本學術著作。.

This paper concerns broadly with the works of such ethical postmodern theorists as Jacques Derrida, Emmanuel Levinas, Giles Deleuze, focusing on how we can contribute to the development of their ideas by discussing Laozi and Zhuanzi’s Taoism, Buddhism, and modern Korean Neo-Confucianism of Toe-gae Lee. I claim that for criticism and art, literature, film and culture as well as philosophy itself, we are now facing this new need of another notion of subjectivity that not only accepts difference but takes (...) the position of whole positivity toward the Other. This different view of subjectivity that can be called "the sublime subjectivity" or the sublime totality of a human being or a society is essentially an aesthetic one, rather than one that depends upon logic, and it is vital to take advantage of Oriental ideas. From the perspective of the ethics of Levinas, I first place the sublime, jouissance, or pure enjoyment, at the heart of literary criticism. The pure sensibility of the sublime, or jouissance, unlike the raw feelings of pleasure, is an aesthetic sensibility beyond the ontological unity of feelings of pleasures and pains. Then with the Oriental thought, I make an attempt to contribute to the development of the ideas on the ethics of the relation of the reader and the literary text’s language. Laozi’s Taote Ching, Chuanzi, Diamond Sutra, and Toe-gae Lee’s notion of Taeguk are briefly explored in view of the aesthetic transphenomenal dimension and the sublime totality. (shrink)

Readers of Eastern Christianity and Late Antique Philosophy will find a collection of authoritative papers from across the Neoplatonic and Eastern Christian traditions. It is only recently that scholars have started to take notice of the Eastern Christian engagement with late antique philosophical texts. This volume builds upon this new interest in order to show the dynamic nature of Neoplatonism and Eastern Christianity at a time when both faced a variety of challenges. The legacy of (...) Greek philosophy in the Christian East fills the gap between the schools of Alexandria and Baghdad and brings into focus the intellectual history of the period. The aim of the volume is to stimulate interest in late antique philosophy and its reception in the Christian East. (shrink)